Often applauded for his ability to capture historical and visual journeys on film, filmmaker Guy Zhuoqin Yang features three generations of Mexican heritage in music, through his heartfelt documentary entitled The Protrait of a Luthier. The story is a touching story about Tomás Delgado, third-generation Luthier of Candelas Guitars, becoming the last guitar maker to inherit his family's precious handcrafting tradition. Delgado struggles to carry on his family legacy, as his children have already expressed their desire to pursue other interests.
The Protrait of a Luthier is a story of hard work and hope. It was filmed in 2017, by award-winning writer, producer, and filmmaker, Guy Yang. The work creates a seamless visual storyboard for viewers as it chronicles the journey of Tomás Delgado, the last Luthier in his family. Tomás Delgado was born on April 15, 1969. He is the eldest son of Candelario Delgado (1944-1996) and grandson of Porfirio Delgado (1910-2000). Tomás, introduced to the beautiful art of making guitars from studying under his grandfather, founded the business back in Mexico. As he grew, he continued to study the craft from his father, who eventually moved the family business to Los Angeles. As a young boy, Tomás recalls saying, "All I want to do is play guitar."
His grandfather, Porfirio Delgado, authoritatively responded to him, "There are plenty of guitar players but not many guitar builders."
Eventually, Tomás fell in love with the art of making beautiful instruments. Not only was he fascinated by creating handcrafted products from nuts and bolts, but he also found happiness as he was able to meet many of his musical heroes.
The Portrait Of A Luthier - Photo by Guy Yang
As he shares his incredible story, Delgado talks about how creating guitars keeps him grounded, provides a sense of peace, and inspires him to leave a tradition for his kids, whether they decide to continue the business or not. Guy Yang's brilliance as a filmmaker is magnified here as he is able to creatively sequence Delgado sharing his personal feelings about his work with positive remarks made by his children. Delgado's son, Tomas, shares warm comments about how his father never forced the idea of continuing the family business on him saying, "My Dad is everything to me. I want to play baseball. But I know our legacy will live on."
Sophia, Tomás Delgado's Daughter, sees her father as a hero and said, "I always thought of him as this super cool artistic guy. I always wanted to be just like him."
Sophia's dream is to play for the U.S.A. Softball Team one day. "I love my kids more than anything. Everything is for them," Delgado tells filmmaker Guy Yang, who shadowed him for more than a month to create this story.
The Portrait Of A Luthier - Photo by Guy Yang
Yang's appreciation for cultures shines through his work. When asked about his inspiration behind making The Protrait of a Luthier, he talked about his own discovery of hand-made guitars. He views it as an art form and immediately searched to find an available Luthier. Delgado reached out to him. Yang's passion is evident in several scenes of Delgado, where he purposely highlights multiple segments of him working with his hands. In fact, Yang captures Delgado working with his hands a lot. He spends a lot of time drilling, sanding, and touching different parts of the instrument to emphasize how carefully the work goes into it, which makes it a masterpiece. There is a great scene where Delgado teaches his son how to find special messages that Luthiers leave inside of instruments. According to Yang, he shadowed Delgado for nearly a month to create the content and capture the right visuals for this unique story.
